Beyond the Vengeance
by meixel
Summary: Leonard Cord is a brilliant psychopath who is set on driving Mike over the edge after he boldly kills a young girl and threatens his beloved Jeannie.   With limited departmental resources, Steve strikes out on his own and tails Cord.  An alternating POV story that begins with Cord attacking Steve in Act II and ends before the Epilogue of the 1st season episode, Beyond Vengeance.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **the characters and original story of Beyond Vengeance do not belong to me. There is no profit being made.

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**Mike**

A funeral.

While there was so much else to worry about, I knew in the back of my mind that I would be attending the funeral for one of my daughter's best friends. I couldn't imagine what that would be like or what her parents were going through. It was so unnatural for someone that young, that vibrant and that healthy to be dead.

And it could have been Jeannie. God forgive me for being that selfish, but I couldn't stop thinking about what more could have happened on that bus.

At that moment, in Rudy's office, my hands were tied and I was angry. After Valerie was brutally killed on the way home from college, it didn't take long to figure out who the sick bastard was. Leonard Collier Cord. It's not like he was hiding. Jeannie could identify him but couldn't exactly link him to what had happened on the bus. That was a part of his plan and it made him happy. That smirk on his face made me sick! He did it and it was all there out in the open. Yet there was no proof.

Cord had twelve years to think this through - to calculate it down to the smallest detail. He anticipated everything - every thought I would have and every reaction. He even got me to deck him in my own office in front of Steve and the rest of the squad. Rudy was right - it was a bush play.

I had to figure a way to catch Cord. I had to stop him before he got to Jeannie.

**Steve**

It worried me to see him like this. He loves his daughter so much. It would kill him if anything happened to her. He felt so helpless and I understood that.

The law is there to protect people. It's there to also protect men and women who have committed crimes and paid their debt to society. For the most part, it should - without question. But every so often someone slips through the system who is simply pathological.

Mike couldn't understand why Cord had been released so early. It was because he knew how to manipulate the system and those around him. He convinced the right people that he was reformed and ready for society. Yet he was really someone without remorse and filled with an intent to torture and destroy. He was hellbent on revenge. That was Cord.

I could see the frustration in Mike's eyes. When you're a cop, you must follow higher standards. Mike's hands were tied and he wasn't able to do all he could to protect the one person he loves above all others.

When presented with a choice to protect Jeannie or stay on the force, there was no question. He would leave the force. And he was willing to quit right there on the spot. He had slammed his badge on Rudy's desk. Rudy would never have accepted his resignation, but it was a message just the same: he was a desperate father and would give it all up for Jeannie's safety.

I thought very little about what I would do next. As soon as I heard Rudy pulled the tail on Cord, it was a reflex. For Mike to be so willing to give up his life's work to nail this madman said more to me than you could imagine. The least I could do was give up my afternoon and tail the guy.

**Mike**

I was surprised when Steve suddenly announced he was feeling ill. We both knew what he was up to, and thankfully, Rudy played along. Oh, I know Rudy was just following rules before. That's his job as Captain. I've known Rudy my entire career. He was just as frustrated as I was. He certainly didn't want anything to happen to Jeannie.

When Rudy returned my badge, I pulled Steve aside to thank him. He smiled for a half second, but didn't want to hear it. I think he was a little embarrassed. But he needed to know how much his actions meant to me. He was going above and beyond. Not that he doesn't always put in the extra effort. He does. That's what draws me to him.

But this was for me and Jeannie. This was personal. He was willing to risk his life without question. At that point, I didn't realize how real that risk would be.

I don't think he thought that far either.


	2. Chapter 2

**Steve**

I stopped by the office to pick up what information I could on Cord. I took a copy of Mike's file from twelve years ago. I also copied everything I could get my hands on from Valerie's investigation.

That poor girl. Like Jeannie, she was a bit of an ideologue, but Valerie also had a practical desire to help people. She was studying sociology. She wanted to create ways to empower those less fortunate while not taking away from those that were able to make their own way. She was interested in policy. Had she been given the chance, she could have created programs that would educate the poor or provide service to the disabled. Who knows what the world will now miss because of Cord.

When I left headquarters that afternoon, I decided to go home and get into something more comfortable. I also wanted to be a little less conspicuous and figured I'd blend with street clothes. After all, I had already met Cord at his condo earlier that day.

Ready to follow Cord, I figured that it made sense for me to park out in front of his home and wait.

**Mike**

We needed to find a way to directly link Cord to the bus. It was that plain and simple. Jeannie wasn't able to do it and neither could the bus driver. The next step was to interview passengers. That could take a while, but if that's what we had to do, then we'd spend the time and manpower to do it. I sent Tanner, Lessing and others down this path. We were going to do whatever it took.

Initially, I felt comfortable with Steve tailing Cord. I told Steve to check in periodically, so as long as one of us had heard from him on a regular basis, I knew he was okay. His tailing would give us a regular flow of information on Cord's activities.

But the fact that Cord had seen Steve earlier bothered me. If the tail had been someone Cord hadn't met, it would have been so much easier. Steve needed to be much more careful. And because Cord had sat for twelve years creating his playbook for this sick game he was playing, he probably anticipated that Steve or someone close to me would tail him, even unofficially. In hindsight, Steve didn't have much of a chance.

**Steve**

I sat outside Cord's apartment for the better part of an hour. Since I was technically off the clock, I was in my personal car, a green '65 Porsche topped with ski racks and red ties. Not the most inconspicuous automobile, I have to admit. The reality is that it's my one prized possession, and I'm quite partial to it. But that's another story.

Cord finally left through the front and climbed into his Mustang. It was nearly 4pm when we left - still light out. That was the beginning of a two hour wild goose chase. First, he filled up with gas and then walked down to a newspaper stand. Then he bought a few things at the grocery store. That was the last time I checked in with Healy.

After the store, I followed him as he drove leisurely through one of the city's more historic neighborhoods and then finally, he stopped at a liquor store. He wasn't being particularly shifty; it just seemed like he was running errands. I don't think I recall him looking back to see if anyone was following him, but of course now, I have to believe that he knew I was right there.

By the time he left the liquor store, it was getting dark. He headed toward the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park. The Legion is a beautiful art museum built nearly fifty years ago on the northwest side of the city. It is three-quarter scale model of the Palais de la Legion d'Honneur in Paris, and more recently known from the movie Vertigo. (I can hear Mike now asking 'how do you know these things?'). Anyway, it has these large columns in the front - maybe two dozen of them. At night, with only limited street lights, the columns cast very large shadows.

By the time we got there, the museum was closed and very dark. Cord climbed the steps into the front area, but I could not see where he was because of the shadows from the columns. I started to follow him. If I had to do it over, I should have just waited in my car. At any rate, after following him passed several columns, he must have double backed.

I heard a crack from the large flashlight hitting the back of my head, followed by a very sharp pain. Apparently, I passed out as I was falling down the steps.


	3. Chapter 3

**Mike**

As we were taking statements from the Valdezes in the motel room, the phone rang. When Detective Dan Healy said that Steve wanted to meet me at the Legion of Honor, I knew something was wrong. It just felt like a set up.

Now I know it looked like I went over there alone, but in reality, I had Healy and another unit backing me up not more than fifty yards away. For all of the plotting Cord did, it was funny to me that he had painted himself into a corner. He kept saying there'd be no proof, but there would have been cops all over him had he shot me or Steve.

Instead, I shot Cord. His plan had been to get me in the light while he shot me from the shadows. Thankfully, I was able to shoot out the lights, including the one in the telephone booth where Steve was. That took away his advantage.

Do I wish my initial bullet had killed him? In a way, yes. Then, it would have been all over. But I shot him in self defense. My intent was not shoot to kill - just to stop him. Once I got his gun away from him, I had the opportunity to shoot him again. He even begged me to do it because he didn't want to go back to prison.

I thought about it, for a half second, when he was threatening me. "I'm gonna kill you Stone. Someday…" For just a brief moment, I thought, _I should spare you the trouble now_. But that's not the cop I am. Even as personal as this got, it's my job to make the arrest. Not to pass sentence and enact punishment.

After I turned Cord over to the black and white, I ran back to find Steve. When I got there, he was trying to stand up in the booth. I opened the door and he practically fell out.

**Steve**

What woke me up were the gunshots. And then when the light in the booth was shot out, I could feel the glass from the bulb falling all over me. It took a minute to get my bearings. I could hear Mike and Cord yelling at each other.

I felt so helpless that I tried to get out of the booth. It didn't work too well. I tried standing a couple of times, but fell back down. I got it on the third try, but truth be told, it was because Mike had made it back and was helping me. I cannot begin to say how relieved I was that he was okay and the whole Cord nightmare was over.

Mike wasn't sure how badly I was hurt. He had been through quite a bit already. Of course, being me, I said I was fine. After he untied me, I felt the back of my head and it was sticky. I also had a hell of a headache and was nauseous. I figured I had a concussion, but just didn't want to admit it to myself or Mike.

**Mike**

I asked Steve to give me a dime to call Jeannie. Really, I just wanted to see if he could focus on finding a dime in his hand. That would give me some indication on how he was doing. It was too dark to see much except for how pale he was. When he leaned back against the booth as I started to make the call, it didn't give me much comfort.

I actually called Rudy with that dime and told him that we had Cord six ways to Sunday and in custody. I also asked him to let Jeannie know that everything was okay. I advised him that Steve had been injured and that I was taking him to the hospital.

If the kid was going to argue with me, I didn't care. He was going. The way I calculated it, Healy said that it had been 2 hours since Steve checked in. That conversation was a half hour earlier, so Steve potentially had been unconscious for quite some time. Chances are it was no small bump on the head.

I asked him if he could walk to the car. He said that he could despite not being able to walk in a straight line. When I saw he was staggering, I grabbed him by the elbow and tried to steer him. He stopped and looked around.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He was scaring me at this point. "Gonna puke," was all he said and he tried to walk over to a trash can. He didn't make it, but instead took two steps and fell to his knees. Well, at least he was right on what he needed to do.

When he finished, he sat back on the grass. I told him that I would call an ambulance, but he raised a fuss. While he was arguing, I took out a penlight that I remembered I had with me and looked at the back of his head. I could tell his hair was matted and was surprised to see some small shards of glass. I tried to pick a few small pieces of glass out and that's when I realized he was bleeding. The blood had trailed down his neck and while there was quite a bit there, it was not as bad as I have seen with some head injuries.

Nevertheless, he kept saying he was 'fine', but it was clear that I needed to get him to a doctor quickly. Healy found me at that point, thankfully. We both helped him up and headed toward my car.

As he walked past his Porsche, he caught the sight of the switchblade sticking in the driver's side headrest. He started screaming about that 'SOB Cord' - although he had choicer words that he was using. While slightly amused, I was more worried than anything. We needed to get to the hospital. I told him to just shut up and get in the car.

It had been a long day and night. And it was not over yet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Mike**

By the time we got to the hospital, Steve was sound asleep in the back seat and difficult to awaken. Considering he had been unconscious earlier that evening for several minutes, the ER doctor classified it as a severe Grade III level concussion. The good thing was that he had recall of what had happened and no signs of amnesia. He also wasn't slurring his speech. The bad thing was that he was extremely nauseous, tired and dizzy.

On top of that, he had to have several stitches where the impact of the flashlight hit. It was no surprise that the doctor kept him overnight for observation. I was worried, but knew he'd be in good hands until I could pick him up the next day.

In the meantime, Jeannie was still down the coast with an old friend of mine. I had sent her there to keep her safe from Cord. Now, I wanted nothing more than to get her back home. She only had a few days for break anyway. Despite all that had happened, she needed to return to Arizona to finish her semester. Our time being limited, I wanted to spend every moment that I could with her.

I called her at 7am and told her that I'd drive down to pick her up. I thought if I got her in the morning, we could swing by and pick up Steve from the hospital in the afternoon. For whatever reason, it was important for me to get them both back to where they belonged.

**Jeannie**

When Mike called, I could tell he was anxious to get me home. We were back in the city by the early afternoon. By 5pm, the three of us were sitting in our living room, frazzled and exhausted. For what we had been through during the last forty eight hours, it was understandable. Mike was enduring his last surge of nervous energy - like a light just before it flames out. Steve more than offset the surge as he dozed on and off in Dad's recliner.

Mike didn't know what to do with himself and paced back and forth. With a clap of his hands, he announced, "I know what we need. A good steak!" The clap and Mike's loud announcement made Steve's head snap up and I could tell that wasn't a good thing for him.

But Mike's answer to our problem of the moment was to grill. A true Dad. Neither of us argued with him as we sat down at the dinner table.

It was interesting to watch the interaction between Mike and Steve. Steve was still a little embarrassed about how Cord tricked him. Mike reassured him that Cord had spent so long thinking about his plans, he had no chance to react. While Steve nodded his understanding, I don't think he ever completely accepted Mike's assurances.

At the same time, Mike expressed disappointment in himself. He felt he misread Cord's intent, not completely understanding that Cord was really after himself all along and would use whomever he could to get to him. He thought it was all about Cord's wanting to rape and murder me as revenge for the arrest twelve years ago. Steve tried the same assurances that Mike had given him and was just about as successful.

A silence fell across the table. We all immediately shifted the discussion to the mundane topics of everyday life: school, sports, vacations, and food. Those topics were exhausted by the time I brought out dessert and coffee.

Finally, Mike took a deep breath and spoke with a shaken voice.

"Look Jeannie, Steve… I need to say something here," he paused. "After what has happened these last two days, I need to say how thankful I am that you both are able to be here at this table. I am grateful that you are in my life. I am proud to know you and so happy that I am a part of your life.

This business with Cord was very tragic for Valerie and her family. I know that we'll never forget Valerie. But this could have turned even more tragic…for me. I thank God..," he choked. "I thank God in Heaven that He has watched over us. If anything, this has made me realize how fortunate I am and how quick things are to change. I thank God for showing this to me. It is a message I won't soon forget."

We all sat quietly around the table. With tears in my eyes, I reached over and grabbed a hand from both of them and squeezed. Both looked at me and smiled.

**Steve**

Mike's words rang true to me. I also felt very fortunate that Cord did no further harm to Jeannie or Mike. Cord was all about vengeance, but what was left behind for us went way beyond that.

I sent a silent prayer after Mike spoke. I prayed again for Valerie and her family. I also took a moment to thank God for what I have - these two very dear friends that have become family to me. Whatever needs to be faced at this point in my life, I realized at that moment I could count on Mike and Jeannie to be with me. And they could count on me for the same. Mike's right. It is a message I won't soon forget.

~finis~


End file.
